Are you eligible for expungement?

Depending on your particular situation, A California resident may have the following options:

If you were convicted of a misdemeanor and are still on probation, you may request early release from probation and file petition to have conviction dismissed. To do this, file a PC 1203.3 petition to have probation terminated early, and PC 1203.4 petition for expungement.

If you were convicted of a misdemeanor and have successfully completed probation you may file a petition to have conviction dismissed. To do this, file a PC 1203.4 petition for expungement.

If you were convicted of a misdemeanor and were never given any probation at all, you may file a petition to have conviction dismissed. To do this, file a PC 1203.4a petition for expungement

You were convicted of a felony and are still on probation you may request early release from probation and file a petition to have your conviction reduced to misdemeanor and dismissed. To do this, file a PC 1203.3 petition to have probation terminated early. Also file a PC 17(b) petition to get felony reduced, and PC 1203.4 petition for expungement.

If you were convicted of a felony and are done with probation and/or county jail time you may file petition to have conviction reduced and dismissed. To do this, file a PC 17(b) petition to get the felony reduced, and a PC 1203.4 petition for expungement

If you were convicted of a felony and were never given any probation at all and were sentenced to county jail, you may file a petition to have felony reduced to a misdemeanor and file petition to have conviction dismissed. To do this file a PC 17(b) petition to get felony reduced and a PC 1203.4a petition for expungement.

You were convicted of a felony and were sentenced to state prison or under the authority of the California Department of Corrections, you may file a petition for Certificate of Rehabilitation and Pardon.

Certificate of Rehabilitation. If you were sentenced to state prison or sentenced under the authority of the California Department of Corrections you are not eligible for a dismissal under Penal Code Section 1203.4 or 1203.4a. You may, however, be eligible for a Certificate of Rehabilitation. For eligibility and application requirements contact the Board of Prison Terms, 428 J Street, 6th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814. This is a lengthy process that may necessitate the assistance of a private attorney.

Once all of your convictions have been dismissed:

On questions by Private Employers if you are asked if you have every been convicted of a crime, you must respond with “YES-CONVICTION DISMISSED.”

On questions by Government Employers or Government Licensing Applications if you are asked if you have ever been convicted of a crime, you MUST respond with “YES-CONVICTION DISMISSED.” In California, government employers and licensing agencies (except for police agencies and concessionaire licensing boards), will treat you the same as if you had never been convicted of any crime.

You will not be allowed to own or possess a firearm until you would otherwise be able to do so.

Your dismissed conviction(s) can still be used to increase your punishment in future criminal cases.

Your prior conviction(s) can still affect your driving privileges.

If you have been required to register as a sex offender as a result of a conviction, you have to make a different motion to the court in order to be relieved of this requirement. A dismissal will not relieve you of your duty to register as a sex offender.

One thought on “Expunging criminal records, re-sentencing requests”

Interesting article. I don’t think anyone wants to ever have a criminal record attached to their identity but this article gave me some idea how you can be eligible for expungement just in case one has been convicted. I’ll certainly keep this in mind.